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Sunday, October 14, 2012

uncle bob's fresh apple cake

Friday night, my beloved Washington Nationals, who finished the regular season with the best record in baseball, lost game 5 in post-season play in the National League Division Series, against the St. Louis Cardinals. :( For anyone who knows me, or if you've read my blog "about me" here, you know I've been a die-hard fan (slightly obsessed!) since they arrived in Washington, DC in 2005. I never miss a game, whether it's TV, radio, or at Nationals Park. The game ended in true heartbreak fashion. Since I could go on and on, I won't bore you with all the details of the game, or how extremely special this season was! I just want to congratulate and thank the team for an unbelievably wonderful year! I want to thank them also for all the happiness and excitement the season brought me, and all their scores of fans. I didn't want it to end, and can't wait until next spring when it begins all over again! Thank you, Nationals!

photo courtesy of masnsports.com

Just like baseball, Uncle Bob's Fresh Apple Cake is as classic as they come! This incredible recipe, with some slight changes I've made, is adapted from Paula Deen's delightful, The Deen Family Cookbook, and also found online here. When I brought this cake in to my devoted taste-testers, I was told it was one of the best cakes they had ever tasted! In fact, I will be baking it again this week for a brunch, since everyone politely indicated they didn't get their fill! :) Although Paula Deen bakes it in a bundt pan, I chose to create it in traditional coffee cake style. A basic Nordic Ware coffee cake pan was used, identical to this one found here, which can purchased inexpensively anywhere. This also eliminates the baking time by 30 minutes.

Yummy apples from a recent visit to the Leesburg, Virgina farmer's market.

Pleasantly sweet, dense and extremely moist, with chunky bites of apple, and crunchy toasted walnuts, describes this divine apple cake! It has already been added to my list as one of my holiday breakfast or brunch cakes for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. It's exactly what I look for in baking during a busy time - elegance, delectable, and easy preparation!

Honeycrisp Apples were used in my Uncle Bob's Fresh Apple Cake, and the lovely ingredient in this creation, I thought I'd give a few fun facts about! This has become my absolute favorite choice for both a cooking and eating apple, since becoming readily available in the Virginia area over the past few years. Honeycrisp is a cross-pollination of two delicious apple varieties, Macoun and Honeygold, the first seedling planted in 1962 as part of the University of Minnesota apple breeding program. It wasn't until 1991 that it was released to commercial nurseries for propagation. The Honeycrisp is best grown in colder areas of the country, namely Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, upstate New York, and New England. It's exceptionally crisp and juicy, and stores well in the refrigerator for several weeks without losing its outstanding flavor. I highly recommend it!

Create the Apple Cake and Honey Glaze:prepare the honey glaze:
Add all the ingredients to a small bowl and stir until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and set the bowl aside. (This will thicken up as it sets.)

prepare the apple cake:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease or spray a bundt or coffee cake pan. Baking times will vary for pan used, noted below.

In a bowl, mix together the diced apples, toasted chopped walnuts, vanilla, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Using an electric mixer beat the sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl. Add in the dry ingredients and beat until completely combined. Fold in the apple mixture.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. The batter is going to be thick. If you are using a coffee cake pan, as I did, place the pan on center rack and cook for 60 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. (If you are using a bundt pan, the recipe states to bake for 1-1/2 hours, or until a tester inserted in to the middle of the cake comes out clean. See Carol's note below.)

Allow the cake to fully cool in the pan, about 1 hour, and then turn it out onto a plate.

Drizzle the apple cake with the honey glaze! The cake can be wrapped tightly and stored in refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.

Carol's notes:
Paula Deen does not call for peeling the apples. I chose to peel mine.

I used a coffee cake pan, and baked the cake for 1 hour; therefore, I can't verify the 1-1/2 hours called for baking time if using a bundt pan. Personally, I think that seems a bit long, so if using a bundt pan, start checking for doneness at 1-1/4 hours.

This cake tasted even more delicious the second day, if that is possible! :) So feel free to prepare a day in advance and put the cooled, wrapped cake in the refrigerator until ready to serve. You can wait until the day you are going to serve to prepare the glaze. Make the glaze a couple hours in advance so it has a chance to set up and thicken slightly. Drizzle the cake with the glaze before serving. Enjoy!!!

57 comments:

The only baseball game I went to in my life was in DC about 7 years ago! This cake reminds me of one I make with pears and almonds. It´s almost exactly the same, from Magnolia bakery. I just love the honey in the glaze!

Sorry the Nationals lost the final game. I know absolutely nothing about baseball, but it sounds like they had a great season. :)

After Pink Lady, Honeycrisps are my favorite kind of apples. This cake looks oh, so delicious!! The glazed top reminds me of a wonderful doughnut. :D Thanks for sharing the recipe, and the apple trivia!

What a gorgeous cake~one I may have to try making gluten-free! So glad you stopped by my blog to say hi-love your site, but sorry to hear about your baseball loss :-( My family and I lived in No Virginia for 1 1/2 years {Falls Church} but, baseball fans that we are, never made it to a National's Game. Sadly, our beloved Padres didn't do so well this year...

Hi Carol! I´m new in your fantastic blog, I saw your chocolate cupcake in Pinterest, and now I´m visiting your recipes, all are yummy and the pictures are beautifull! CongratulationMaria Uvas pan y queso saben a beso

Just pinned. Outstanding cake:) Oh yes, this is going on my menu for this week!! Just dropping in to check it out and follow:) Now following via Facebook, Pinterest and GFC:)

I would also love to invite you to share this or any of your other favorite posts at Freedom Fridays Blog Hop (no rules and live all weekend) So hoping to see you there (don't forget to bring this cake, lol)

Oh my Carol! I just saw (and commented) on your cranberry almond coffee cake, and now I'm getting sucked into your blog! So many delicious and beautiful recipes. Happily pinning away my afternoon! Going to try this with pecans. For some reason I am not a fan of walnuts. Thanks so much for sharing your talents!

Hi Tracy! So happy you found my blog! I accidentally deleted the comment on the cranberry coffee cake...I am so sorry! Thank you so much for your kind comments on both cakes! ...and pecans will work perfectly!!! Have a great day!!!

Hi Laura! Thanks for stopping by, and asking your question. The original recipe calls for it to be stored in the fridge, so that's how I've always done it. I have, however, baked it in the morning and kept it out the day that I've baked it, and if any remains, stored it covered in the fridge that evening. Unfortunately, or fortunately, it never lasts much after that! :) You will love it either way, trust me!!!

Good morning, Jessica! You won't need any substitutions at all, just leave them out. When I recently visited my son's family I made this, and his wife doesn't like walnuts. I left them out...and it was just as delicious!! Enjoy!

Just made this and popped it into the oven. I didn't peel the apples...just sliced and lined the pan with them then poured the batter on top. Smells good and it's done in one hour! Thanks for the recipe!

Good morning, Anon! Thanks so much - I'm thrilled that you came by to let me know about the apple cake! Any time cutting measures always work for me - I love how you did it! Yum, I can taste it now! :} Enjoy!!!

My guys are eagerly waiting for me to bake this for them. I was wondering if you thought this would work as cupcakes? Or maybe baked in one of those larger muffin tins? (I'm think I could freeze half).

I love, love, love your blog. Thank you so much not only for your recipes but for your insight as well.

Good morning, Genia! I can't believe that you asked this question, because just yesterday, I was thinking about trying the exact same thing. I'm all for freezing portions! I absolutely think it would work for the "large" muffin pans, but don't think it would be good for the small ones. (I wouldn't use papers in the tin either, unless you use stand alone baking papers, that don't require a pan.) Just prepare the cups like the cake pan, by lightly greasing or baking spray. Of course, adjust the baking times. I'd love to hear how they work out for you...this is the best cake!!! Thanks so much for your sweet comment about my blog, so appreciated! Enjoy your weekend!

Wow Carol! This looks amazing! I've been searching for a good apple cake recipe and I think I just found it! I'm so excited to try this! (And what a gorgeous photo...it makes me want to reach into my computer monitor and pull off a taste!)

Happy Saturday morning, Martha! What a pleasure to have you stop by!!! I promise you, you will not need to search any further...this apple cake is absolutely the best! It's my family's newest constant request. Thank you for your kind words, and have a wonderful weekend!

Wow! I made your uncle bob's apple cake this weekend for a family get together and it was amazing! Everyone loved it. It was dense and moist and so tasty. It will be my go to apple cake from now on. I'm glad I didn't make any changes to the recipe except I used gala apples because that's what I had, next time I will try the honey crisp, they sound good. I made it in a bunt pan and it baked for the entire time mentioned even though I started checking 15 mins early. Thanks for sharing this great recipe.